Hunan Province will close 37 polluting enterprises in the Xiangjiang River Valley by the end of this October.

Jiang Yimin, director of Hunan Environmental Protection Bureau, said that except for these 37 enterprises, 21 enterprises will be eliminated through a selection process, and another 240 will stop production for further adjustments.

According to the "Xiangjiang River Valley Water Pollution Comprehensive Control Scheme" that was recently passed by the Hunan government, the province will furnish CNY17.4 billion to deal with the water pollution problem over the next three years. 851 polluting enterprises will be refitted, while 123 projects of urban sewage treatment and garbage disposal will be constructed inthe  Xiangjiang River Valley. The province is expected to achieve the water environment quality standards in 2010.